Attachment Anxiety

What it measures

Measures the anxious dimension of adult attachment style, reflecting a chronic fear of rejection, abandonment, and asymmetric caring in close relationships. Key phrasing traces back to Collins and Read (1990) and Hazan and Shaver (1987). Discriminant validity from the avoidance attachment dimension is well established in Johnson et al. (2012). Used by David (2016) to examine how attachment style moderates consumer responses to social consensus advertising.

Response format

7-point Likert (strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

• I worry about being alone.
• When I'm not involved in a relationship, I feel somewhat anxious and insecure.
• I worry that people I have relationships with won't care about me as much as I care about them.
• My desire to be very close sometimes scares people away.
• I worry a lot about my relationships.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Used by David (2016, Journal of Advertising, 45(2), 227–243) across five studies examining responses to consensus claims in advertising. Alphas were .89 in Studies 1 and 2, and .88 in the web appendix study. Strong discriminant validity from avoidant attachment is documented in Johnson et al. (2012). Key conceptual antecedents include Collins & Read (1990) and Hazan & Shaver (1987).

Citation

Johnson, A., Whelan, J., & Thomson, M. (2012). Why brands should fear fearful consumers: How attachment style predicts retaliation. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(2), 289–298.

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